Live coverage of the unveiling of Lincoln's Bomber Command Memorial

Summary

Memorial to the thousands of crew in Bomber Command who died in World War Two
Hundreds of veterans attended
Flyovers by planes including the Vulcan and a Dakota
Historian Dan Snow presented the event with Earl Howe cutting the ribbon
Updates from Friday 2 October

Live Reporting

Ben Truslove

First flyover of the Bomber Command Memorialpublished at 11:39
The first flyover is a box formation of Tutor planes from RAF Cranwell.
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Dan Snow starts the memorial ceremonypublished at 11:29
Historian Dan Snow has got today's ceremony under way, welcoming the assembled guests.
The Royal Air Forces Association and the Royal British Legion standards will shortly be marched in, accompanied by music.
Flyovers to pay tribute to Bomber Commandpublished at 11:15
Ben Truslove
BBC News Online
It was a closely guarded secret but we can now reveal there will be a number of flyovers by different aircraft during today's ceremony.
Image source, PA
It will include the last flying Vulcan, a Blenheim bomber, two Tornados, three Hawks and the current MacRobert’s Reply - a Panavia Tornado.
Photo is one first close-ups of the memorialpublished at 11:08
Ben Truslove
BBC News Online
This striking image is one of the first to show the completed memorial to the 55,573 Bomber Command crew killed during the war.
Image source, Place Architecture
RAF College band warms up for ceremonypublished at 10:54
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Weather looks ok...published at 10:43
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Veteran here 'for my friends'published at 10:32
Throughout the week, Radio Lincolnshire has been speaking to veterans of the bombing campaign.
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Motorists warned to keep clear of the sitepublished at 10:24
The organisers of the event have reminded the public that today's memorial celebration is only open to invited guests, external.
Parking restrictions are in place and motorists are warned to stay away from the Canwick Hill site until mid afternoon.
Memorial spire dominates skylinepublished at 10:14
Ben Truslove
BBC News Online
The memorial to the thousands of Bomber Command aircrew is topped off with a 102ft (31.09m) spire - the length of the wingspan of a Lancaster Bomber.
Image source, Place Architecture
It was designed by Stephen Palmer of Place Architecture and is based on two wing fragments, tapering as they rise towards the sky.
Aviation 'inextricably linked' with Lincolnshirepublished at 10:01
Historian Dan Snow, who is presenting today's event, said: "This is Bomber County, Lincolnshire is Aviation County. Aircraft were made here, pioneered here and flown from here during both world wars.
"Aviation is inextricably linked with Lincolnshire and it is exactly right that the memorial is here."
Tens of thousands served in Bomber Commandpublished at 09:47
Ben Truslove
BBC News Online
Thousands of men and women served and died in Bomber Command during World War Two as these statistics show
Image source, Getty Images
Weather looking good for memorial ceremonypublished at 09:41
Clare Nasir
Weather presenter, BBC Look North
Some patchy mist and fog to start, mainly across the north, and slow to clear in places.
By midday the sun will have broken through leaving a fine afternoon, feeling warm away from the coast with light winds.
Good morning: Join us for the Bomber Command Memorial unveilingpublished at 09:30
Ben Truslove
BBC News Online
Hello world, welcome to the BBC's live coverage of the unveiling of the Bomber Command memorial in Lincolnshire.
There is an exciting line up of events to celebrate the life and work of thousands of crew, many of whom died in World War Two.
I'll be guiding you through the morning and you can get in touch by email, Facebook, external or Twitter, external.